The little hands in my house love dipping just about anything into zesty tzatziki. Try pita, carrots, tomatoes, celery, snap peas, or just about any other vegetable! photo: Abigail Weber

Chances are, at this point in the summer, you’ve got plenty of cucumbers rolling around your vegetable crisper. In my home, that is a very good thing. My two boys cannot get enough of cucumber. I don’t think there is any preparation of this prolific veggie that they’d turn down. I use it pureed in cold summer soups (see Cool Cucumber and Purslane Soup), chopped in salads, tossed into stir-fries, and sliced up to dip into just about anything. I also happen to use it in a classic dip of its very own, Greek tzatziki. This creamy, cooling dip makes for a lovely appetizer or satisfying mid-afternoon snack. I even go so far as to use cucumber tzatziki to dress cucumbers themselves. For this easy salad, I toss sliced cucumbers in salt, let them drain in a colander for 20 minutes or so, then dress them with a few shakes of rice wine vinegar and a healthy dollop of tzatziki. I serve this salad next to just about any grilled meat or fish.